Again to Costa Rica

When in autumn I was asked to lead tour to Costa Rica, it was an easy decision. The group was going to be small and we were going to visit many places where I had already been but also some new places.

We had been in Costa Rica a couple of times in last 2 years so I was quite familiar with most birds and other animals but of course I had to start studying before the trip.

We decided that I would go to Costa Rica a couple of days before the group was arriving so I could get rid of jetlag and so on – and of course to do some birding too.

Finally it was the 15th of November and I traveled by train to Helsinki-Vantaa airport. I had a room in Clarion Hotel where I could relax.

On the 16th of November my Air France plane left early to Paris and when the plane landed Charles de Gaulle airport was a mess because of thick fog. I had to walk a long way, queue a lot and even take a bus to terminal M from where my next flight left at 1:15 p.m.

Finally I landed to San Jose Juan Santamaria airport at 5:50 p.m. local time. After I had found my luggage, I walked out to search transportation to hotels. I had to wait for an hour until the right bus finally arrived and it was only a short drive to Hotel Double Tree Hilton.

El Copal

The 17th of November. I was very tired because of long traveling but anyway I slept only for a few hours as at 4:30 a.m. Erick Guzman came to pick me up. I had managed to contact Erick with help of Andres Chinchilla who had guided us on our previous trip in San Isidro area. Then I had booked Erick to guide me for at least one day but there was also an option for another day if everything goes well. Just a couple of days before we had agreed that we would go birding to El Copal where I had been once before but in a very rainy day. I had a feeling that there was still much to see there.

It was still dark when Erick picked me up and soon we drove out from San Jose and passed Cartago and Paraiso. When sun started to rise, we were already climbing higher along smaller roads and finally we parked to El Copal.

We started birding around the buildings and soon went to check the feeders. There were lots of tanagers with some better species like Emerald, Bay-headed and Speckled Tanager. There were a couple of Snowcaps on Verbena-bushes and like on our previous visit a Bicolored Hawk landed to a top of one tree. We also saw a couple of Blackburnian Warblers and Tropical Parulas too.

We had breakfast that Erick had booked and then headed to walk to the trail which we had planned to walk around. Soon Erick started to pick up some calls but most birds stayed hidden. But one of the first birds we saw were a a Rufous-browed Tyrannulet and then one of my main-targets, a Black-and-yellow Tanager. Unfortunately they both disappeared too soon to get any pictures.

After some more walking I found a lonely bird hiding behind some branches. I first thought it looked like a piculet but when I saw its head, I thought I knew what I was watching. Luckily Erick found the bird soon and confirmed that it indeed was a Sharpbill! It was a really good bird – only the 2nd for Erick.

Soon we found a mixed flock of euphonias feeding berries on the top of one tree. Unfortunately beautiful Elegant and White-vented Euphonias stayed too high to get any pictures. And then Erick found another target-tanager – a Blue-and-gold Tanager which was also quite far but I got at least some kind of pictures..

We continued climbing higher but there were surprisingly few birds, but all of them were good ones. We saw a Broad-billed Motmot, a couple of Olivaceous Woodcreepers and a Spotted Woodcreeper, a Brown-billed Scythebill, a Northern Plain Xenops, a Bicolored Antbird, a Sulphur-rumped Myiobius and a Red-eyed Vireo but a Black Hawk-Eagle, a Collared Trogon, a Rufous-tailed Jacamar, Fawn-throated and Buff-fronted Foliage-gleaners, Plain Antvireos, Spotted and Zeledon’s Antbirds, a Thicket Antpitta and a Black-headed Tody-Flycatcher were only heard.

We still found a Band-backed Wren, an Ashy-throated Chlorospingus, a White-lined Tanager and saw briefly a Black-headed Nightingale-Thrush. Our walk had really been a success!

When we were back at the buildings we had lunch and then still spent some time at the feeder and around the buildings. A Barred Hawk was seen and I got some pictures of a Brown Violetear and a Green Thorntail but then we had to start driving back towards San Jose.

On the way we still saw a White-tailed Kite but nothing else really. There were lots of traffic but finally we were back at my hotel. And of course we had planned to continue on the next day too.

I was very tired so I only visited the closest shop and bought some snacks and drinks and soon I was ready to go to sleep.

Twitching

On the 18th of November we met with Erick again at 4:30 a.m. and soon we were driving towards west and Pacific Ocean. In Tarcoles we had breakfast and finally Erick got information that the most important target-species, at least for Erick, was still around. So soon we drove to one farm and met Erick’s friend who had managed to organize twitching on this place. The twitch cost a little bit but the some money went also for the owner of the farm. Luckily there were even rubber-boots as I hadn’t taken a pair with me at all.

Soon we were following our guide with a couple of other twitchers to a wet field. We had to walk some hundreds of meters until we were on the right place where our target-bird had just been. And luckily after some searching we found the first ever Sandhill Crane for Central America feeding in quite long vegetation.

We were watching and photographing the crane for some time before walked back to the farm. Some other birds we had seen were flocks of Yellow-naped Amazons, a couple of White-fronted Amazons and when we were already next to our car, Erick found a couple of Scrub Euphonias – so also I got a lifer.

Next we continued some tens of kilometers south to Quebrada Amarilla where we soon met a twitcher with very nice motorbike who had been with us watching the crane. Unfortunately he hadn’t found our target-bird. We planned to check different places and once we stopped we almost immediately found a falcon perched on the top of one very distant tree. I took pictures of it and it really looked promising. Erick went to pick up his telescope and on the way he saw some Scissor-tailed Flycatchers flying over him. And of course while I was trying to find the flycatchers, the falcon disappeared. Motorbike-twitcher also arrived when we had just found a falcon but even further. It was impossible to be sure if we had the right bird or not. And after all on my pictures from the previous tree-top was a Merlin. We started to feel some pressure.

But luckily soon we saw the right bird flying above the field being chased by a Crested Caracara. And then this Aplomado Falcon landed to some farm-machine and we could enjoy watching it with telescope.

When we started to scan other birds, we found even 25 Scissor-tailed Flycatchers and also saw a couple of Muscovy Ducks, a Blue-winged Teal, Roseate Spoonbills, a couple of too distant plovers (which I think were American Golden Plovers), a Killdeer, a Northern Jacana, heard a calling Ferruginous Pygmy Owl, Plain-breasted Ground Doves, Scarlet Macaws, a Gartered Trogon, a Red-crowned Woodpecker, a Panama Flycatcher, Morelet’s Seedeaters, Western and Red-breasted Meadowlarks and so on.

Then it was time to start a long drive back to San Jose. Soon we still saw a Peregrine Falcon, later along the shore some Magnificent Frigatebirds and Brown Pelicans and then still a Zone-tailed Hawk and a White-tailed Kite.

Once we were back at my hotel it was time to say thanks and goodbye to Erick. I had got even 10 lifers and some Costa Rica ticks too. Then I had to relax for a couple of hours before I tried to contact Pablo who was going to be the driver on our tour. It took some time before he finally answered and he was in very bad traffic-jam as there was an important World-cup qualification football match near my hotel in the evening.

Group arrives

Finally Pablo was at my hotel so late that we had to leave to the airport immediately. Luckily the traffic wasn’t too bad to this direction so we managed to get to the airport soon and there we had to wait for our group for at least a half of an hour. Finally the group arrived and pretty soon we were back at our hotel.

We still went to eat together with very tired group but it was good to get familiar with them. Most of the group were photographers so it was good that we were going to many very interesting places with lots of birds and animals to see and what even most important, to photograph. Finally we managed to go to sleep pretty early.

On Quetzal’s land

On the morning of the 19th November I had told to my group that if they have problems to sleep because of jetlag, I would lead short walks outside our hotel both at 6 and 7 a.m. It wasn’t a surprise that only one person came to walk with me at 7 a.m. The traffic was noisy but we managed to find about 20 bird-species which one of them was even a lifer for me – a Cinnamon Hummingbird.

Before 9 a.m. we all had enjoyed good breakfast and then we were ready to hit the road with Pablo. On the way we didn’t see many birds but a couple of good ones – a Double-toothed Kite and a Sharp-shinned Hawk.

Once we reached our destination Quetzal Valley, we didn’t turn to our hotel but continued towards San Gerardo do Dota Valley. And after some more driving we finally stopped at Miriam’s Quetzal where we could start birding and photographing while having lunch.

It was great to photograph hummingbirds and tanagers. Especially Acorn Woodpeckers and White-throated Mountaingems were posing well.

Next we continued along the valley to Savegre Hotel which also have great feeding place. There Lesser Violetears, Scintillant Hummingbirds, a Red-tailed Hawk, a Spot-crowned Woodcreeper, a Rose-breasted Grosbeak and several other beautiful and colorful birds were seen and most of them posing well for photographs.

There was a construction zone close to Savegre so we had to stay there for a couple of hours as the road was closed. But it was just perfect time for us. When we thought that we had got pictures of all feeder-visitors, we walked down to a rapid where we still saw a Louisiana Waterthrush and a couple of Torrent Tyrannulets. Soon Pablo picked us up and we started to drive up towards uplands where our accommodation was in Paraiso Quetzal.

We got our cottages so that the group was at downhill and I was at uphill from the reception and restaurant building. When we had dinner we had to climb steep hills – it was a good practice for the rest of the trip as there was going to be more climbing.

Late in the evening I still went for a walk for more than an hour. I stopped many times and played Unspotted Saw-whet Owl calls from my speaker. When I was about 2 kilometers from the hotel an owl came to respond but unfortunately I didn’t see it even with my thermal-camera. I really wanted to see this beautiful owl but I was very happy just to hear it.

On the 20th of November we had very early wake up as our quetzal-trip had been moved to start already at 5:15 a.m. Our guides had told us that early mornings and afternoons were the best time to see quetzals and our trip had been ordinary booked at mid-day. So now we were already before the sunrise driving along the upland. After some driving we parked our car and climbed up to a steep hill and went under a small shelter to wait for quetzals to arrive to feed avocados from a tree in front of us.

Our guide David told that there was already one Resplendent Quetzal inside the tree and I managed to find it with my thermal-camera. And it didn’t take long when it came visible and we managed to get first pictures of this magnificent bird.

Also another group came to photograph quetzals and together we enjoyed a couple of hours photographing these stunning birds. At least two males had very long tails while 4 or 5 other birds were young males and females. At least I took far too many pictures even though the weather was cloudy and bit dark for flight-shots.

While enjoying quetzals we had also heard a Spotted Wood Quail, a Collared Trogon and a Rufous-browed Peppershrike but otherwise there had been surprisingly few birds. A Northern Emerald Toucanet which had been in the same tree with quetzals had been hiding so well that only I had seen it.

The rest of the day we spent in Paraiso Quetzal’s garden which had plenty of flowering bushes with lots of birds. Many birds were visiting the feeders next to a platform which had been booked for us and which was a perfect place for photographing. Fresh fruits and sugar-water were added in fast pace so there was good action until the evening.

The best birds we saw were at least 15 Buffy-crowned Wood Partridges, a couple of Hairy Woodpeckers, amazing numbers of Fiery-throated Hummingbirds and Talamanca Hummingbirds, several Long-tailed Silky-flycatchers, Large-footed Finches, a couple of Yellow-thighed Brushfinches and so on.

A couple of times I had to straighten my legs and walk in the garden and there I saw some Black-and-yellow Phainoptilas, a Wilson’s Warbler, beautiful couple of Golden-browed Chlorophonia and a Spangle-cheeked Tanager. From a view-tower we enjoyed the view but also saw a Black-billed Nightingale Thrush and a Northern Tufted Flycatcher. A flock of Chestnut-collard Swifts and several flocks of Band-tailed Pigeons were also seen.

On the 21st of November we had pretty similar day than the previous one but in opposite order. In the morning we were photographing birds on the platform and in the garden and in the afternoon we had a quetzal-trip again.

The weather was rainier but anyway we got plenty of pictures of the same species as on the previous day. I also found at least 6 singing Wrenthrushes near my cottage but they were impossible to photograph.

With half of our group we walked a short Colibri-trail and saw a Ruddy Treerunner, an Ochraceous Pewee, a Ruddy-capped Nightingale Thrush, Silky-flycatchers and Phainoptilas, a flock of Yellow-winged Vireos, a Flame-throated Warbler, Black-cheeked Warblers and Collared Whitestarts.

It was very rainy on our quetzal-trip but anyway at least 4 Resplendent Quetzals were seen and we got some different kind of pictures even thought it was quite dark again.

In the evening we had again delicious dinner before it was time to go to sleep.

Birding on the way

On the 22nd of November we still spent the morning in the garden but then it was time to pack our car and say goodbye to wonderful stuff of Paraiso Quetzal. We didn’t drive far as we soon turned uphill to the highest place that is possible to go by car to Antennas. Luckily the weather was now very nice and mountains sheltered us from the wind too. We could see the surrounding landscape perfectly and get some stunning pictures too.

There weren’t many birds but after some searching we managed to find both targets – some Timberline Wrens and a single Volcano Junco. We also saw some Volcano Hummingbirds, Slaty Flowerpiercers, a couple of Black-capped Flycatchers and a Cooper’s Hawk briefly in flight.

Soon we were driving again and passed the former capital Cartago where we saw the fortress without stopping. We continued east and then again passed our next accommodation and continued a little bit more until finally turned towards Tranki Garden where we hadn’t got only lunch but also photographing opportunities.

Finally we parked our car at Tranki Garden and met (one more) David who was easy to identify as he had extremely long hair. Then we had lunch on his home-terrace and it was really nice to have so called home-food. The “restaurant” was maybe a little bit more ascetic than usually but our group really enjoyed it. And food was delicious.

After lunch we followed David downhill to a small feeder where we didn’t have to wait for long until the star of the feeder came to feed rise – a tiny White-throated Crake was very shy but it visited the feeder so many times that we all managed to get really good pictures of it.

When we had photographed the crake enough we followed David to another feeding-place where we saw plenty of new birds for the trip.

We got lots of pictures of fruit-eaters but there were also doves, pigeons and other seed-eaters. A Band-tailed Barbthroat visited one big flower and other better birds we saw were a Cinnamon-bellied Saltator and a Black-cowled Oriole. But also many other common birds were photographed and they were all new to our group as we had only been on the mountains.

When we were already walking back to our car David still showed us a female Snowcap, a Garden Emerald and a White-ruffed Manakin. Luckily I had met one twitcher in Tarcoles who had been a guide in nearby Rancho Naturalista and he had told me about this place – Tranki Garden had really been a good place to visit.

Rancho Naturalista

It was only a short drive Rancho Naturalista and it seemed that there weren’t any officers around but some gardener or other worker helped us to find our cottages. Rancho Naturalista really looked nice and I got a very nice room with a door straight to the balcony where hummingbird-feeders were and had a good view to other feeders in the garden. Immediately we saw some Grey-headed Chachalacas, White-necked Jacobins, Crowned Woodnymphs and Green-breasted Mangos.

As there was nobody showing us the place more, I decided to go out and tried to find what we could do on the next couple of days there when we had some free time. I was walking along the roads and tried to find a place where the trails were supposed to start but I couldn’t find any signs. The map I had found in the internet didn’t really help. While I was walking here and there I saw a couple of Black Guans, a Fawn-throated Foliage-gleaner and Orange-billed Sparrows. Then finally I found the trail that started behind a couple of cottages. But it was already getting dark.

Anyway I decided to climb a little bit uphill along the trail and check if the trail was in such condition that we could walk it later with the group. I had walked maybe 100 meters when I heard a Slaty-capped Flycatcher singing.

Once I was back at the lodge I met one of the managers who showed me the house and now there were also a couple of local bird-guides in the living room. Saul was going to be our guide on the next day.

After dinner I still decided to go out to see if there were frogs and bugs to be found as I thought that we could do such a trip with the group on the next evening. Luckily another guide, Taylor was also going out in same purpose. So we walked to the trail and Taylor showed me several beautiful and not-so-beautiful spiders, bugs and frogs, also one small snake and so on. While we were already walking back we heard a Mottled Owl calling.

On the 23rd of November I woke up early and went to the balcony where Saul also arrived at 6:15 a.m. Soon we saw a Lesson’s Motmot visiting the feeder but unfortunately it didn’t come back after our group had arrived at 6:30 a.m. But with help of Saul we saw plenty of other birds like a Pale-billed Woodpecker, a couple of Golden-olive Woodpeckers, a Stripe-throated Hermit, a Violet-headed Hummingbird, a Brown Violetear and so on.

While we were having breakfast on the balcony Saul came to tell me that there was one good bird now on the place where the trail was beginning. I decided to go to twitch immediately and managed to see this Tawny-chested Flycatcher. It was still very dark so I couldn’t really get pictures of it but I thought we would see it later with the group anyway, but unfortunately it was never seen again.

After breakfast we were walking in the garden and saw a Checker-throated Stipplethroat, a White-collared Manakin and a Bronze-tailed Plumeteer but all very briefly. Then we drove a short distance downhill to Rancho’s another lodge where was a nice view to surrounding area and also lots of verbena-bushes with violet flowers.

Soon we saw a Ruby-throated Hummingbird briefly but also a male Snowcap. On the trees nearby we saw lots of tanagers which a Blue and a Scarlet-thighed Dacnis and a White-shouldered Tanagers were the best ones but there were plenty of other beautiful birds too. Soon Saul found also a Gartered Trogon and a Streak-headed Woodcreeper.

Then it was already 9 a.m. and it was time to head towards Rio Platanillo to search for our next target. First we stopped to a bridge and walked both directions along the river but couldn’t find anything else than a Green Kingfisher. So we soon continued to a beautiful valley where we kept on walking along the river but still couldn’t find our target. We saw some Northern Waterthrushes and Buff-rumped Warblers and a Torrent Tyrannulet. After all we drove back to the same bridge and tried once more there. Saul went to another direction and I went with one photographer to another while the rest stayed on the bridge. Luckily soon we heard a whistle and we could see Saul smiling.

So we followed him and soon saw a couple of Sunbitterns feeding along a small ditch. Unfortunately birds heard us coming and they walked further and then flew to the river. We followed them and luckily found them soon and the next hour or so we were photographing these beautiful birds.

After lunch there was some free-time as we had got pretty intensive beginning on our tour. Anyway it was easy to do whatever anyone wanted in Rancho Naturalista, easiest plan was to stay on the balcony and photograph birds there.

I decided to go out for a walk and I managed to hear a couple of Dull-mantled Antbirds at so called hummingbird-pools. I tried to playback them visible but couldn’t see them at all. Then with one photographer we tried and managed to find a recently built view-tower but unfortunately trails were too muddy to visit the tower later with the whole group. We didn’t see almost any birds either but of course early morning visit could’ve been very different.

After dinner we went to walk along the trail with flashlights and managed to find almost all the same spiders, bugs and frogs that I had seen on the previous evening. It was surely unforgettable experience for all participants.

On the 24th of November because of the late evening-trip we had planned to sleep longer and meet at breakfast. So I was able to try something crazy. I woke up very early and already at 4 a.m. I started climbing up along the trail. It was a long, slippery and very hard walk to the furthest part of the trails until a view-watching place.

On the way I had seen only a couple of Wood Thrushes and I finally reached the view-place before the sun was rising. Soon more birds started to wake up and call and I heard a Barred Forest Falcon, a Rufous Motmot, a Fasciated Antshrike, Grey Antbirds, Checker-throated Stipplethroats, Fawn-throated Foliage-gleaners and Chestnut-capped Brushfinches. But I couldn’t hear my target-bird which had been called in different parts along the trails for last month. Taylor had even heard this Grey-headed Piprites in this exact place on the previous morning after one week absence.

Unfortunately I had only 15 minutes or so good weather before it started to rain very hard. I waited the rain to stop and then still walked a little bit along the trail and played calls and song of piprites but without answer.

Finally I had to give up and start walking back down along very slippery trail. I was even running as I wanted to get to breakfast and somehow I managed to get there exactly in time without falling on the muddy trails.

It was raining a lot in the morning so we were mostly staying on the balcony and just took it easier. Anyway we managed to see and photograph a Violet Sabrewing and a Green Hermit and I also saw a Green Thorntail briefly on verbenas. In the garden we also saw a Plain-brown Woodcreeper.

When it wasn’t raining too much, we were birding nearby until lunch but didn’t see much. I saw a Swainson’s Thrush and a Northern Plain Xenops and then from balcony I saw an American Redstart and a Blackburnian Warbler. But after lunch it was time to head towards new adventures.

Photographing on the way

On the way we made a stop in La Hoja Garden which was very nice place to photograph common birds visiting the feeders. The background was very good for photographing and it was really a worthy stop.

We got pictures of a Russet-naped Wood Rail, Red-legged and Green Honeycreepers, Montezuma and Chestnut-headed Oropendolas, Black-cheeked and Hoffmann’s Woodpeckers and so on. The main-birds here were toucans which we now saw the first time with the group. It was good to see and photograph Collared Aracaris and a Yellow-throated and a Keel-billed Toucan.

After La Hoja Garden we still had a long drive and somewhere close to Puerto Viejo we saw a Muscovy Duck and an Osprey in flight, some Southern Lapwings on one field and then the first Great Green Macaws in flight.

Around Selva Verde

We arrived at Selva Verde Lodge when the sun was already setting. So all we had in program was to get our rooms and then have dinner.

The morning of the 25th of November was again rainy. Anyway I walked around the short trail that was nearby. Even though we had been in Selva Verde Lodge before, our accommodation had been on the other side of the road on cottages and then we had been birding mostly there. I managed to find a Ruddy Quail-Dove, a Belted Kingfisher, Red-lored Amazons, a Wedge-billed Woodcreeper and a Chestnut-backed Antbird.

After breakfast we drove almost an hour to Cope’s Garden where we had booked photographing-session and also a short walk in a forest nearby to see some target-birds.

Cope’s Garden was really just a garden almost in the middle of a village, but what a garden Cope had! Even though it was pretty dark place, it was a perfect place to photograph birds that were visiting the feeders. We got good pictures of Pale-vented Pigeons, oropendolas, Shining Honeycreepers, Great-tailed Grackles, Red-winged Blackbirds and many other species.

Once Cope shouted us to come to the road where our car was as there was a White Hawk soaring on the sky and we found also a Black Hawk-Eagle that was very high above it.

Pretty soon we got into our car again wearing rubber-boots that Cope had for us. We drove a short distance before parked our car and started walking along a small trail into forest. First we went to see a Crested Owl couple and then continued to another forest where we saw a Spectacled Owl couple. On the way we saw also small bats, Bullet Ants and our first Mantled Howlers.

When we were back at Cope’s Garden, we still photographed a Green Kingfisher that visited the pool a couple of times and of course some other birds before it was time to hit the road again.

On the way we saw a couple of Neotropic Cormorants before we parked to Frog’s Heaven which was much closer to our accommodation.

After lunch we walked along the trails with a guide and we saw a Wood Stork, a White-whiskered Puffbird, a Rufous-winged Woodpecker, a Thick-billed Seed Finch, a couple of Red-throated Ant Tanagers and so on. We also photographed Lesser Sack-winged Bats which were hanging on a tree-trunk and Honduras White Bats that were hanging under a big leaf. Then we stopped to a shelter where we had the next program – we were going to photograph different kind of frogs and snakes.

Our guide carried different kind of animals for us to photograph, we started with a Red-eyed Tree Frog, Emerald Glass Frog, Strawberry and Green-and-black Poison-dart Frog. Some frogs were a bit too active and jumped to the ground while some tried just to lie down on the leaf where they were supposed to pose for us. So our guide had to really work hard for our pictures.

And after frogs we continued with snakes. First we photographed two different color-morphs of Eyelash Viper and then the last snake was a stunning Annulated Tree Boa.

Finally we were happy with all the pictures and it was time to drive back to Selva Verde Lodge when sun was already setting.

On the 26th of November our schedule was again tight and already before 6 a.m. we were driving a short distance to Puerto Viejo and Rio Sarapiqui where we soon found our a river-boat and left sailing with our guide – one more David and his father Jose.

Very soon we saw a Hoffmann’s Two-toed Sloth on a top of one tree, which was a lifer for me too. Then we also saw a Spectacled Caiman but it was still too dark to get pictures.

There weren’t many birds along the river but soon we saw some Spotted Sandpipers, a Great Blue Heron, a Ringed Kingfisher and some Green and Amazon Kingfishers. Then David showed us a couple of Bay-breasted Warblers and after some more sailing we found a stunning Sunbittern which was really posing well.

We still saw an Anhinga, a Green and a Bare-throated Tiger Heron, Green Ibises, a Masked Tityra and some bats that were hanging under a liana. Then we were finally on the area for the main target-species and pretty soon Jose noticed it feeding under a big log – a Sungrebe! We were following and photographing Sungrebe for a long time as it was almost all the time very well visible. Surprisingly we were very close to the bridge of La Selva Biological station where we had been on our first trip to Costa Rica. But then it was time to head back towards Puerto Viejo.

We boated back very fast and were exactly on time at the harbor. We had really enjoyed our two hours boat-trip.

We had breakfast at lodge and took some more camera-gear with us and I also managed to photograph an Ochre-bellied Flycatcher in the garden before we started driving again. It was almost an hour driving to Alvar’s Macaws where we parked to garden in heavy rain.

There were some tame Scarlet and at least one Great Green Macaw in the garden but also several hybrids. When the rain stopped we walked to the garden and soon found some tame White-faced Capuchins to photograph. There were several cages with different kind of parrots in the garden too.

Soon also a younger boy accompanied us and we were told to follow our leaders towards an open grassy area.

They started to shout “Lapapalapa” and some macaws followed us to this grassy area where 2 roosts for macaws were. Then the boy started to walk from roost to another calling the macaws to follow him and his nut-bucket. We stood somewhere in the middle and tried to get flight shots of macaws which most of them were again hybrids. The story that I had read earlier told that in this place where Alvar had earlier taken care of some injured macaws had been one mixed pair, but it seemed that this pair had been very productive and now there were more hybrids than pure birds. Luckily the same story had told that these hybrids were infertile.

Once a bigger flock of Scarlet Macaws with some Great Green Macaws visited the opening and after all we managed to get some pictures even from pure Scarlet and Great Green Macaws.

And of course it started to rain again very hard so we decided to give up as our cameras were getting soaking wet.

We had lunch on the way at idyllic Soda Marielos and in the afternoon we were mostly relaxing as it was still raining all the time.

In the evening I walked to the closest shop along the road and of course it started to rain very hard again and I had to change all dry clothes for the dinner.

On the morning of the 27tg of November we were still in Selva Verde and the weather finally let us walk the short forest-trail there. The first walk I made alone and saw some Green-and-black Poison-dart Frogs, a couple of Grey-chested Doves and on the forest behind the restaurant I found an Ovenbird. Later we walked exactly the same route with the group and managed to get pictures of a White-collared Manakin and saw an Eastern Wood Pewee.

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After breakfast it was time to pack our car and drive a short distance to Dave & Dave’s where we had booked another photographing session. Luckily Pablo had managed to change our session to begin 30 minutes earlier and we met younger Dave (probably their real names were also David?).

We were photographing both on the shelter where fruit-feeders were on both sides and on the terrace where hummingbird-feeders were. Most of the species we saw were the same that we had seen earlier but Dave was really good guide and he also told us interesting stories about the place, birds and so on. And meanwhile we got nice pictures of a Russet-naped Water Rail, toucans, Collared Aracaris, same woodpeckers and hummingbirds which Scaly-breasted Hummingbirds we hadn’t seen earlier. Other nice species were Red-throated Ant Tanagers, a female Shining Honeycreeper and Buff-throated Saltators.

After some photographing my camera got some condensation inside and I had to go to the park for a walk and keep my lens towards the sun. Luckily I got moist away pretty soon but of course meanwhile the others had seen a Tayra visiting the feeder.

After a couple of hours we said thanks to Dave and left for a longer drive. Pablo was driving first along bigger roads but later the roads got smaller and worse when we started to climb up to the mountain. On the way we saw a Peregrine Falcon and after a long drive we finally arrived to Bosque de Paz which situates between Juan Castro Blanco and Poas National Parks.

Bosque de Paz

In Bosque de Paz we got our rooms and then hurried to have lunch which was the reason we had been in a hurry.

There were feeders in the garden and immediately we saw some Black Guans, Silver-throated Tanagers and on the hummingbird-feeders there were lots of action as there were Green Hermits, Green-crowned Brilliants, Violet Sabrewings, Purple-throated Mountaingems and most importantly also a couple of Magenta-throated Woodstars which another bird was a gorgeous male!

In the garden there was also a Black-bellied Hummingbird visiting verbena-bushes so it was easy to spent whole afternoon just in the garden and terraces. The staff of Bosque de Paz was amazing helpful and one of them kept on changing more and more beautiful flowers for hummingbirds. In the garden we also found some Black Phoebes, Common Chlorospinguses and a Slate-throated Whitestart.

After dinner a small group still gathered in the garden and we followed our hosts inside a small orchid-garden where we hoped to see a shy bird moving in the shadows. After some searching our guide thought to see something but whatever it was it disappeared too soon. And the same happened a couple of times until finally another guide clearly saw something. He pointed the direction and we managed to see a small bird perched on a small stone and flicking its wings a couple of times before disappearing to the shadows again – a Scaly Antpitta!

Later I went by myself back to orchid-garden with my thermal-camera and managed to see at least one, maybe two Scaled Antpittas but again very briefly. I also saw several unidentified thrushes, found a couple of tanagers sleeping on the trees and one owl-looking bird flying over me.

On the early morning of the 28th of November I tried to see antpittas again and saw one again very briefly but still couldn’t get any pictures.

Day was again very rainy so we were happy that we had already spent a lot of time with hummingbirds on the previous afternoon – now there was much less light. Most of the birds were just perched somewhere in shelter from the rain.

With Pablo we went to check the trails and they were really nice and in good condition, so later we visited the trails with different line-ups. Some of the group wanted to walk more like exercise and with some we were walking very carefully and slowly which is of course a better way for finding animals.

After all I was walking along the trails quite a lot and managed to see a Sunbittern, a Collared Forest Falcon, several Yellowish Flycatchers, a Black-faced Solitaire, Ochraceous Wrens, Golden-crowned Warblers, a Black-and-white Warbler, Slate-throated Whitestarts and also a couple of Collared Peccaries.

When we were having lunch on of the hosts came to tell us that there was a Collared Trogon outside. Of course we followed him immediately and managed to get pictures of this beautiful bird which I had actually never seen before even though I had heard plenty.

The rest of the day was spent in the garden and terraces photographing hummingbirds. I managed to find one Stripe-tailed Hummingbird from the bushes too. We also saw a big bustling herd of White-nosed Coatis visited the fruit-feeder.

Right after dinner one of the hosts came to tell us that there were a few Common Raccoons visiting the feeder and we managed to see them on torch-light but they were very shy and escaped to the shadows. Later a small group visited the orchid-garden again and finally I managed to get a couple of pictures of a Scaled Antpitta before it rushed over the road to the forest.

On the 29th of November we spent the morning still in Bosque de Paz and once again I saw a glimpse of an antpitta but then it started to rain again. Anyway I went to walk around the best trail and I managed to find a good mixed flock of birds where I managed to identify several warblers including a Tropical Parula, a Flame-throated and a Black-eared Warbler.

Between the rains we were once again photographing hummingbirds but after all it was time to pack our car and hit the road.

Again we hadn’t got very long distance to drive but roads were very slow and driving 100 kilometers took more than 2 hours. Along the way we had lunch in homey Café Mila where we saw some Yellow-throated and Yellow-crowned Euphonias visiting the feeder.

Then the rest of driving was made in flatter rural landscape where we saw a Laughing Falcon and some Crested Caracaras on the way. Finally a photogenic Arenal was visible and soon we had to stop and take first pictures of the volcano.

Around Arenal

Finally we had climbed close to Arenal and parked to Lost Iguana Resort. There we got our rooms so that a couple of us had rooms on the top of one road and the rest of us on the top of another road. Of course my room was on the top of steeper uphill.

We hadn’t some free-time so I had planned to walk in the gardens of the resort but I had so stunning view to the volcano from my own terrace that after all I was just sitting there and enjoying the view. I soon found out that many birds were visiting a fruity tree nearby and I saw lots of different colorful tanagers and other birds. Some of the best birds were Scarlet-thighed Dacnises, an Emerald Tanager, Rufous-winged and Carmiol’s Tanagers and so on.

Then I did a short walk in the garden and from hummingbird-garden I found some Great Curassows but then it started to rain again and the rest of the evening I just relaxed on my own terrace.

On the morning of the 30th of November it was once again raining but I soon heard a strange bird singing outside and decided to try if Merlin would help me to identify it. Surprisingly Merlin suggested Bare-crowned Antbird. I rushed out and luckily the bird was so close that I could stay under the roof and playback the call. It took a long time but finally I saw the bird moving closer to my speaker but it was moving too quickly. I had to be very patient but it paid the price and finally I saw, and even got a couple of very poor-quality pictures of it and it really was a Bare-crowned Antbird! I also heard a Thicket Antbird and a Grey Antbird even though I just stayed under the roof all morning.

After breakfast we headed to La Fortuna and saw a White-throated Magpie-Jay and a Grey Hawk before we turned to Sloth Territory. After a little wait we met our guide and followed him to the trails. Soon we saw the first pennant that guides had put up to point towards a place where a sloth had been in the morning.

Our first sloth was pretty well visible and it was a Hoffmann’s Two-toed Sloth. Later we saw several Brown-throated Sloths, but they all were very high on the treetops. Our guide was very good and he showed us many other birds and animals too which some of the best ones were a distant Harris’s Hawk, a couple of Rufous-tailed Jacamars, a Broad-billed Motmot, a White-collared Manakin couple and so on. I also managed to see an Orchard Oriole, a Streak-necked Flycatcher and heard a Striped Cuckoo.

Our guide (whose name I unfortunately forgot as he wasn’t David) also showed us a couple of different species of Glass Frogs and Strawberry Poison-dart Frogs which one of them was calling actively. It was again raining very hard awhile but luckily the rain stopped as quickly as it had started.

In the afternoon we walked the Puma-trail in Lost Iguana Resort and even thought we didn’t see many birds a Wedge-billed Woodcreeper and a Tawny-faced Gnatwren were nice. Once we were back in the garden we saw a Long-tailed Tyrant and I saw a Purple-crowned Fairy briefly.

The rest of the evening I sat again on my terrace and waited new birds to come to fruiting tree. And I was lucky as I saw a couple of Yellow-billed Caciques, lots of tanager and some toucans. Bay and Black-throated Wrens were singing even in the evening but I must say that for some reason we hadn’t heard many birds singing at all during our trip.

We had dinner again in lodge’s restaurant and after that it was nice just to relax in a very comfortable room.

On the morning of the 1st of December it was raining again and Bare-crowned Antbird was calling only a couple of times. When the rain finally stopped I walked a little in the garden and managed to see a Black-crested Coquette and a Blue-throated Sapphire but then it started to rain again.

At breakfast time the weather got clearer so we stayed in our plan and soon drove about 1km uphill to Mistico Park and after we had bought the tickets started to walk around the trail.

After some walking we found the first mixed flock of birds where were a White-throated Shrike-Tanager couple and several Carmiol’s Tanagers.

We also saw a Northern Barred and a Spotted Woodcreeper, a Sulphur-rumped Myiobius and Tawny-capped Euphonias before it started to rain. Luckily the rain stopped just before we reached the first hanging bridge so we managed to take nice landscape-pictures.

The trail was really nice and easy to walk but a little bit longer than we had thought. From one of many bridges we managed to get pictures of a Crested Guan and after some more bridges we found another mixed flock which had at least Russet Antshrikes, Streak-crowned and Plain Antvireos, Checker-throated Stipplethroats, Slaty Antwrens and also a leaftosser-looking bird which was moving on the ground but disappeared too soon. When the flock had disappeared I found a White-fronted Nunbird above us. And after some more walking I heard familiar calls of a Dull-mantled Antbird and just before we were back at the parking place we saw a Rufous Motmot.

At Lost Iguana Resort we still climbed to our rooms and had some time to pack and so on. Then we got again transportation for our luggage, packed our car and were soon driving towards north.

Laguna Lagarto

We had about 2 hours driving and on the way we saw a couple of White-tailed Kites and a few Scarlet and Great Green Macaws and so on before we stopped in Cuyito for lunch. We ate in nice restaurant that was in the middle of farmland and on the nearest field we saw Green Ibises, a flock of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, a Bare-throated Tiger Heron, a Snowy Egret, a couple of Little Blue Herons, a Nothern Jacana and from the trees we found a Slaty-tailed Trogon. Pablo had once again chosen a perfect place to eat.

Then we still saw a couple of Least Grebes on the same small pond as a couple of years ago before we turned to familiar Laguna Lagarto Lodge. There we got our rooms and soon were out with our cameras.

On the garden we saw several Great Curassows and Central American Agoutis. The main-terrace was occupied as there was another big group of photographers but from the back of the garden we surprisingly found another shelter where almost all the same birds were visiting the feeder. For some reason we hadn’t found this shelter on our previous visit.

Soon the sun started to set so the only better observations we managed to make were a couple of calling Cinnamon Becards and an Eastern Wood Pewee.

On the 2nd of December I woke up early and went to walk along the road but saw only a Swainson’s Thrush and heard a Collared Forest Falcon. Otherwise the day continued like on the previous evening as the other group had still booked the main-terrace. We spent time on the platform and with Pablo we went to check the condition of the trails but they were extremely muddy and slippery. And of course it started to rain very hard so we didn’t see anything else than about 20 Strawberry Poison-dart Frogs.

From the platform we saw Crested Guans, Keel-billed Toucans, Collared Aracaris, Brown-hooded Parrots, a Chestnut-colored Woodpecker and a couple of Plain-colored Tanagers so we got quite a lot of pictures.

On the bushes next to the platform we saw a beautiful male Red-capped Manakin and also a Common Squirrel Cuckoo was showing briefly. When the sky cleared and it started to get warm there was a big flock of Wood Storks and also Black and King Vultures soaring on the sky. In the garden we still saw a Plain-brown Woodcreeper.

After lunch we headed to photograph vultures from the hides. And both Black and King Vultures were really posing well as the weather was changing all the time. We got a couple of heavy rains and after them vultures were spreading their wings to make them dry.

While photographing thousands of pictures of vultures we saw a couple of Barred Antshrikes and a heard a couple of flocks of Olive-throated Parakeets. With the keenest photographer we stayed in the hide until the light was getting too bad to continue. When we were walking back to the lodge we were very happy as we had got very different kind of pictures of vultures.

Before dinner I heard shivering calls of a Great Tinamou from the forest and while we were eating I heard a Central American Pygmy calling. We had to move a little bit further from other noisy customers before all in our group could hear the owl well. I also noticed a Common Opossum coming down along a gutter and luckily we all could see it in torch-light when it headed towards the feeder.

On the 3rd of December it was our turn to spend time on the main-terrace. We had managed to photograph most birds already earlier so now we mostly concentrated to take flight shots of Keel-billed Toucans. But at least I couldn’t get as good pictures as I had hoped even though I really tried. But anyway we got many really goof pictures!

Actually the most interesting pictures were taken from the restaurant side as I saw a female Masked Tityra landing to one trunk close to the terrace. And the best bird was seen so far that we needed telescope to identify it as an Olive-sided Flycatcher.

During the day we visited a small wetland nearby but it was much drier now than it had been a couple of years ago. Also at midday it was very hot so we didn’t see many birds. Anyway we managed to get pictures of a Bare-throated Tiger Heron and saw a couple of Blue-black Grassquits.

After lunch I just took it easy for some time. But then I headed back to the main-terrace and of course I was alone there when I saw a Grey Catbird landing to one of the bushes. I managed to get a couple of pictures before it disappeared.

After dinner we drove to Adolfo’s, the lodge manager’s house where we were photographing Fruit Bats with multi-flash. Luckily the guide was extremely patient as none of us had used a multi-flash system before. And after all we all managed to get some good pictures of Fruit Bats visiting the flowers, even though one of us had Canon, one Nikon, one Sony and one Olympus.

On the 4th of December we had an early wake-up and at 6 we were already on the shore of Rio San Carlos where we had to wait for about 15 minutes before our river-boat arrived. Finally we were ready for the last boating.

Again there weren’t too many birds along the river but after some searching we managed to find a Spectacled Owl which was unfortunately hiding very well in a dense tree. We also saw Mangrove Swallows, a Great Blue Heron, a couple of Anhingas, Southern Lapwings, both Amazon and Green Kingfishers and so on.

Green Iguanas were seen almost on every three-trunk and our sharp-eyed captain found also several Emerald Basilisks before we came next to a thick reed-bed where were several funny-looking Boat-billed Herons which a couple of them were surprisingly well visible.

Later we still saw and photographed more lapwings, Northern Jacanas, a couple of well-posing Yellow-crowned Night Herons and then finally saw our first well-visible Mantled Howlers.

The rest of the trip didn’t offer wonders until in the end we still saw one smallish American Crocodile, so after all we were very happy.

Then we still had breakfast at lodge, packed our luggage and left towards San Jose and we had a feeling that we were a little bit in a hurry.

Still around Poas

On the way we finally managed to get pictures of a Roadside Hawk and after about one hour driving we stopped to familiar Cinchona view-restaurant to eat and check the feeders. For some reason there weren’t very many hummingbirds. Maybe the reason was that one Violet Sabrewing was extremely aggressive towards smaller feeding-visitors. Unfortunately we didn’t see any Coppery-headed Emeralds which is one of few Costa Rican endemics. There was one Black-bellied Hummingbird and then on fruit-feeder many familiar species but after some waiting also a Red-headed Barbet couple and a Northern Emerald Toucanet couple.

But soon we had to keep on driving as we had booked a visit to Poas volcano. Pablo had to drive pretty fast but after all we were there exactly on time.

We walked uphill to see the volcano and we were super lucky as all clouds moved away completely and we could get very nice pictures! I think this was the only day during our trip when the weather was so good.

A couple of us visited also a lagoon a little bit higher and then we still walked some extra just because of soon there would be enough sitting.

Back to home

Finally we had to walk back to the parking place where we still did last packing and changed clothes for long traveling (our car had dark windows so it was pretty good fitting room). Then we had an hour driving to the airport where we had to say thanks and goodbye to our perfect driver Pablo, whom I had got one more very good Costa Rican friend.

At the airport we managed to get through all formalities and then we had a couple of hours wait for our flight which left at 8:05 p.m. to Paris.

It was again a long flight but at least I was so tired that I slept most of the time. Finally we landed to Paris on the 5th of December at 1:15 p.m. local time. Then in Charles de Gaulle airport we had painfully long wait. Luckily time went surprisingly fast and at 6:30 p.m. our flight left to Finland. And we landed to Helsinki-Vantaa in the evening at 10:35 p.m. And while we were waiting for our luggage it was time to say goodbye to the group. We had really had a good trip!

I still spend a night in Hotel Clarion and on the next morning, on the Independence Day, the 6th of December I took a train home to Parikkala.

J.A.